WEDNESDAY, 13 DECEMBER 2017
AN AMERICAN PRINT MEDIA PUBLICATION
Congressman Elijah Cummings to honor first African-American billionaire Nov. 30 marks the 30th Anniversary of the deal that changed the face of U.S. financial industry Washington, D. C . — O n November 30, 1987, Reginald Francis Lewis negotiated the $985 million leveraged buyout of B e a t r i c e Int e r n at i o n a l Foods, which at that time, was the largest o f f s h o r e transaction in the United States. The Wall Street move was celebrated around the world as the deal that made Lewis the first-ever African American billionaire business tycoon. Michael Milken was his investment banker, and the company made the Fortune 500. To mark the 30th anniversary of the historic deal, Rep. Elijah Cummings of Baltimore, Maryland will be placing the financial transaction milestone in the United States Congressional Record in honor of Lewis’s work that changed the face of American business forever, opening the doors for more African Americans, women and minorities, to play in the billion-dollar-business league. The event also marked the founding of TLC Beatrice International Holdings, Inc., the first African American-owned enterprise to break through the billion-dollar mark when it grossed $1.8 billion in sales on its first year. Very recently, President Barack Obama said to Lewis’s daughter Leslie Lewis, “Your father had the work ethic, the skills and the knowhow. But beyond that, he had the temperament, the self-assurance, the confidence that he could do it and that he belonged there. Being the First of anything requires a certain n Cummings, see page 2
Photo by Carolyn Kaste/AP
Former Rep. John Conyers, D-Mich.
Conyers resigns from Congress amid harassment allegations By Corey Williams and Richard Lardner Besieged by allegations of sexual harassment, Democratic Rep. John Conyers resigned from Congress on Tuesday, bringing an abrupt end to the civil rights leader’s nearly 53-year career on Capitol Hill.
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HE 88-year-old liberal from Detroit becomes the highest-ranking member of Congress to be brought down by the sexual misconduct allegations that have toppled powerful men in Hollywood, the media and politics in recent weeks. While continuing to deny any wrongdoing, Conyers announced what he referred to as his “retirement” on Detroit
talk radio calling in from the hospital where he was taken last week after complaining of light-headedness. He endorsed his son John Conyers III to succeed him. “My legacy can’t be compromised or diminished in any way by what we’re going through now,” the congressman said. “This, too, shall pass. My legacy will continue through my children.”
CBC meets with FBI director over ‘Black Identity Extremists’ report FBI Director Christopher A. Wray failed to explain why the agency he leads changed the name of a domestic terrorism designation from “Black Separatist Extremist” to “Black Identity Extremist,” during a recent meeting with a group of Congressional Black Caucus members about a leaked FBI document. Wray also refused to acknowledge that Black activists, including Black Lives Matter
Testimony: Suspects bragged of dragging Black man to death
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By Stacy M. Brown
According to Newsweek, … other documents showed that “the FBI has monitored Black Lives Matter protesters. organizers, are being monitored by the FBI, according to CBC members present at the meeting. n FBI, see page 6
San Francisco y defends sanctuar status as s t n u o m h s a l k c ba By Paul Elias and Janie Har The attacks on San Francisco and other cities with similar immigration policies began
moments after a jury acquitted a Mexican man of killing a woman on a popular pier, some calling for a boycott of the city that fiercely
defends its reputation as a refuge for all. President Donald Trump called the verdict a “complete travesty of justice,” and U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions demanded cities like San Francisco scrap immigration policies that bar cooperation with federal deportation efforts. Twitter users turned to the hashtags (hash) BoycottSanFrancisco and (hash) kateswall to demand construction n Sanctuary, see page 2
Conyers, who was first elected in 1964 and went on to become a founding member in 1971 of the Congressional Black Caucus, easily won re-election last year to his 27th term in the heavily Democratic district. Until Tuesday, he was the longest-serving current member of Congress. But amid a drumbeat of allegations he groped or sexually harassed women who worked for him, he faced growing calls to resign from colleagues in the House, including Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi. As the furor grew in recent weeks, he stepped down as the ranking Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee, and the Ethics Committee began investigating him. n Conyers, see page 2
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This family has been through hell, but there are people, including our president, who continue to use this tragedy to demonize immigrants. State Sen. Scott Wiener
The case of two Georgia men accused of dragging a black man to his death behind a pickup truck is going before a grand jury. Multiple media outlets report brothers-in-law William Moore Sr. and Frank Gebhardt appeared Thursday in magistrate court for a probable cause hearing at which a judge decided there was enough evidence against the men to proceed. Gebhardt and Moore face a felony murder charge in the 1983 death of 23-year-old Timothy Coggins. Georgia Bureau of Investigation Special Agent Jared Coleman testified in a cramped courtroom inside the Spalding County jail that the men bragged about the killing. “They were proud of what they had done,” said Coleman, who works with the GBI’s cold case unit. “They n Testimony, see page 3